Before Crises
by CorpseBrideEmily
Summary: Sadako and Cloud were close. He was her big brother and she was his baby sister. But when Cloud decides to leave to join SOLDIER, her village is left in turmoil. Especially when they come back 2 years later, and all hell brakes loose. finalCH is up
1. I'm Joining

She sat there, her spiky, blonde bangs rustling in the wind. The rest of her long hair was pulled back into two shining braids. She watched her big brother sulk on the water tower, but he had done that a lot lately.

"Cloudy Wolf," she called to him. He turned his gaze to her. She smiled sweetly and cuddled the giant stuffed cat in her arms.

"Sadako," He replied, and jumped down. Walking up to her and lifting her above his shoulders, the walked into town, the edges of her pink dress tickling his neck.

"Hey Cloud," Tifa said, her long brown hair wrapped around her fist.

"H-h-hey," he said right back. He blushed and turned away, hoping she hadn't seen. Their house was coming up, and their mother was sitting on the front steps, knitting as she did in those days.

"Ah, my Proud Cloud and his little sidekick Super Sadako," she cooed, pulling Her youngest child from her son's shoulders and twirling with her once. Her blondish brown hair was pulled back in a bun today.

"Hey mom," Cloud replied smiling contentedly at the two of them.

'I was thinking, what if I joined SOLDIER?"

His mother stopped laughing with her baby, "You really want to do that?" She gave him a stern gaze that gave Sadako an unsettling feeling. She didn't know what SOLDIER was, but she knew it made momma mad. What made it more unsettling was that she was mad at Cloud. " I forbid it." She put Sadako down and went back inside.

"Cloud make momma mad?" She asked turning to look at her brother, only to find he had walked away.

"I'm joining," was all he said. He slowly walked up to the Inn. Sadako knew that the people who were staying there know were bad cause momma said so. Even their leader, the man her brother called Sephiroth, scared momma. He came out, his pigtail crudely chopped from his head. He stared at his one-year-old sister and nodded. The men began to file out of the inn. She waved to him, but he didn't see.

**T**hat night was not a pleasant one. When Sadako had told her momma about what Cloud had done in the best way her one-year-old Vocabulary allowed, there had been turmoil. The info had made her mother upset. Tifa was upset too.

"Cloudy Wolf be bad?" was all she could say. Tifa knelt down to her and simply shook her head. Her eyes were full of tears., and she sniffled here and there. That night Sadako spent her first night alone, but she spent it in his room. Her mother walked by several times to find her only daughter standing at the window on an old wooden crate Cloud had used for his toys when he was little.

"Be okay Cloudy Wolf, be okay."


	2. I'll wait for you

Sadako held her stuffed cat by it's head, not knowing a seem was splitting at the neck. She sat by the town's entrance in the dust, waiting for him to return. The past week was unhappy because she had no one besides Tifa to play with, and she was pretty much locked up in her room all day. Sadako had silently promised her brother that she would wait for his return.

"Hey Sadako," Mr. Lockhart called from his shop door, " any outside mail yet?"

She turned around to look at him with hopeful eyes, " no, but close."

He smiled at her and laughed to himself, _Like Tifa…before my sweet Susan died, _he thought.

Sadako stared intently out at the plains beyond the dust strip, or so the other villagers called it. Her feet were spread in a V like fashion, her cat doll snuggled up o the side of her head. She sat there, deep in concentration. Her small, blue, wide eyes never left the outstretched land. And then…

"IT'S HERE," she yelled and stood, jumping about in excitement. She was reacting to a truck that delivered mail usually from friends and family in far off places. As the truck grew larger in her vision, she ran to the side so it wouldn't hit her. When it finally stopped in front of her, the man stepped out. He had a bristly black mustache and a baldhead.

"Hi Koko," said, unloading his bag from the back of his pickup. "I think I have something for you."

"Me?" her eyes grew wide with excitement. She stood there eagerly waiting for it. The carrier reached into his bag and pulled out a small wrapped box. He handed it to her and continued into town. She plopped down onto her butt and began to rip the paper, and shortly after, the box. Inside was a gold butterfly with a large round indent. On the piece of paper attached to it were four words she had come to know how to read because of him: _For materia, love Cloud_.

"_**I wish I had thought to grab my money, Sadako would've loved that," Cloud said as he passed a shop. The troops had stopped at the town a few hours before.**_

"_**Who's Sadako?" Asked a man with spiky black hair.**_

"_**My baby sister," he replied. He was eyeing a small gold pendant that was shaped like a butterfly. There was a round indent in it for materia. It was brilliantly decorated with small gems that created tiny swirls in the wings. The price was 800,000 Gil.**_

"_**Here," The man said as he handed cloud money, " I'm sure this will make up your sudden disappearance at home."**_

"_**What, no this is too much," he said pushing the pouched back.**_

"_**Nonsense. This amount is nothing but a chip in my Salary." And with that he handed Cloud the money.**_

"_**Thanks…"**_

"**_Zack, SOLDIER 1_**st**_ class." And he put out his hand to shake._**

"_**Cloud Strife," He shook it.**_

"**S**adako," Her mother yelled. She turned her head from her trinket and looked up. Her mother was waving a white piece of paper in the air. Sadako grabbed her box, pendant and cat and ran towards her house. There she greeted her mother with a hug, but no without dropping her stuff first. Her mother saw the box, and then the necklace, which was connected to a pendant. She knelt down and picked it up with care.

"From Cloudy Wolf." Sadako remarked. She was still clinging to her mother.

"I see, do you want me to read the letter Cloud," Her mother looked lovingly into her eyes, and warmth that she had only felt twice, once when Cloud was born and another time when Sadako came into the world, became once again a feeling that blossomed in her chest. Sadako smiled back. "Let's see, it reads:

_Dear Mother and Sadako,_

_I wish to not scare you so suddenly,_

_as my sudden appearance here is causing an uproar. I have made a new friend named Zack. He has been good company so far. Miss you_

_Love,_

_Cloud_

_P.S. Mom, please don't yell at Sadako for not telling you I was leaving as soon as I did. I told her not to._

"Oh did he now," Her mother eyed Sadako, and the baby giggled back. She folded the letter and caught Tifa's gaze from her window. She nodded and put Sadako down.

That night Momma was extra cheerful, even Tifa came over to dinner. Sadako went to bed before everyone else, so she missed a lot of the conversation. That didn't bother her so much, because she knew that her Cloudy Wolf was okay, and that's all that mattered to her. She knew he'd be safe, because that's just what he did.

**T**he next three months were letters and appraisals to Mrs. Strife and her daughter. Mostly for having a son who was brave enough to challenge the mad skills of Sephiroth, others for having a son who would be willing to keep the peace. Sadako had no idea, what they were saying, or what these things meant. She did, though, want to get away from it.

The next letter promised a visit, but the time and date would be random. When they responded, Sadako decided to wait for him by the entrance, just like she did when she was waiting for his first letter. She did this every day for the next two years. The time she waited slowly grew shorter, but all in all, she waited.

**T**wo days ago the Nibelheim mayor had gotten a letter regarding a Reactor inspection. No one told Sadako because there was a chance that Cloud wasn't gonna be with the inspection troops. Two later the truck was seen by her eyes first, and something deep within her told her that he was on that truck. Something else deep inside her also said that something wasn't going to be okay when they got there.


	3. Come back to me

There was fire everywhere. Her mother's headless body sat by the kitchen entrance. She was trembling, her stuffed animal, now named Mr. Cat, was being clung to with dear life. She didn't cry. Instead she waited for him.

"Sephiroth," She heard. She turned around to find her mother being held by Cloud. Their eyes met and he dropped the corpse. She ran as fast as she could to him. She felt herself being lifted and smothered into his warm chest. His grip was strong but gentle, like how she remembered it. She had closed her eyes, but could feel him moving foreword. The heat decreased a little, but it was still intense.

"Take care of her, I have to go help Tifa," She heard him say. _Take care of her_, she thought,_ wait! Where are you going?_

She looked up to see her brother walk away with the man he had called Zack. She reached for him, and blacked out.

**T**here were men in black suites everywhere. One had Bright red hair, another was bald. There was another one, a woman with blonde hair, and for a few seconds, Sadako thought it was her mother. Tifa was lying next to her, and Sensei was standing in front of them, his backed turned to the man in suites. She could see the scene through his legs. The town was burnt and smoking. She stood up and walked foreword. Sensei didn't seem to see her. She walked past bald one.

"Reno," He quietly called.

The red head responded. He turned around and caught sight of Sadako. She didn't go any farther than a few feet in front of him, so he didn't really need to move.

Sadako didn't feel scared. Instead, she happy, happy because Cloud had saved her first, happy because he did the right thing and saved Tifa too. Happy, because she had seen him one last time. Men in uniform came down with Zack on a portable bed. She gasped silently and waited to see if they brought Cloud down as well. She held her breathe, and then, there in the smoke, was Cloud being brought down on a cot as well.

"Cloud," She yelled. She ran as fast as she could.

"Sada…" Cloud had heard her. He raised his hand only a few centimeters because he had no strength left. He lost sight of her when they went into the gate.

"Catch her," Rude yelled as soon as she made the motion. Reno ran after, scooping her up and restraining the kicking child. He held her so she faced backward. When he turned around to bring her back, she saw them taking Cloud away into the gates.

"Cloudy Wolf! Come back to me! Come back to me!"

Reno listened with a straight face doing his job, but deep down, something inside of him broke.


	4. Waiting for you

She had five treasures that had been salvaged. One was an old sweater Cloud used to ware. Another was Mr. Cat. The third was the gold pendant, the fourth was a sword that apparently had been locked in a wooden box in the house somewhere. There was a charred letter in it that read: _To my Cloud. I'm sorry I left. Love Dad_. The final treasure was her Mother's cherished materia.

"Don't be gloomy," Tifa cooed. She pushed Sadako's chin up a little. She smiled warmly at the child before her.

"He's gone isn't he?" Sadako wouldn't look her in the eyes. She fumbled with the materia and placed it in the pendant. She had been gloomy for the past few days. Tifa didn't blame her, after all, now they both were orphans.

"Yes," Tifa replied. She hated to admit it, but he really was gone.

"We're here. Like I said, no farther, you'll have to find your own way from here," Sensei called from the driver seat of the pick up.

"Thanks Sensei," Tifa called back. She helped Sadako out of the truck. She then pulled their bags out and waved him goodbye. When he had left, they hitched a ride with a Chocobo caravan that was going through the mountains.

The next few days in the mountains were silent ones, but one day Sadako said, "You're wrong."

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked, for her mind was in other places.

"Cloud's alive. I saw them take him away into the mansion. You were still sleeping." She looked Tifa in the eyes finally. It was then Tifa really noticed how deep of a green they were. Like Clouds, they seemed to glow as well.

Tifa couldn't answer. She didn't want to answer. After that they remained silent all the way to Migdar.

In Migdar Tifa had secured a place to sleep as well as work. Her boss's new name was Barret Wallace. Apparently he had a baby to care for, and needed as much help as possible. Tifa didn't mind being his barkeep. Sadako usually sulked on the front steps.

Sadako sat there that night. Her pudgy three-year-old fingers held on to the pendant. Mr. Cat sat next to her, flopped over. She brushed her spiky bangs away, sighed once and looked up at the plate above. _Come back to Cloud. Come back to me._

(CBE: look for my sequel, Final Fantasy VII, Coming soon!)


End file.
